Federal judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter seeking to be allowed back on the platform

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled this week to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former president Donald Trump against social media platform Twitter, seeking to be reinstated after being permanently banned for violating Twitter’s user policy.

According to court filings, Trump’s attorneys argued Trump should be reinstated on Twitter because “Defendant exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate.”

Trump was banned from Twitter last year over claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and COVID-19 misinformation. Trump’s attorneys argue that Democrat politicians have pressured Twitter to keep Trump banned for political reasons. They also claim his First Amendment rights have been violated by the permanent ban from Twitter.

Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California did not agree with Trump’s lawyers. “Plaintiffs’ main claim is that defendants have ‘censor[ed]” plaintiffs’ Twitter accounts in violation of their right to free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,’” Donato wrote. “Plaintiffs are not starting from a position of strength.”

With respect to the complaint that Democrats pressured Twitter to uphold Trump’s an, Donato wrote, “The amended complaint merely offers a grab bag of allegations to the effect that some Democratic members of Congress wanted Mr. Trump, and ‘the views he espoused,’ to be banned from Twitter.”

The judge tossed the lawsuit on Friday, ruling Twitter is a private entity and can ban anyone who violates its terms of service.

Trump’s attorneys will have the chance to revise their argument, but Donato warns it may be an uphill battle. “Plaintiffs’ only hope of stating a First Amendment claim is to plausibly allege that Twitter was in effect operating as the government,” Donato wrote. “This is not an easy claim to make, for good reasons.”